Baptism of Fire
by the things that define you
Summary: They were meant to be better than what they became. They were going to become heroes, symbols of hope in humanities darkest hour. That was before they learned the truth. The truth that they would die that way, as heroes. So they lived, surviving the UNSC's greatest loss. From the fires of war they emerged new people. They were baptized by the flames of war.


Baptism of Fire

 **People who enjoy Halo lore, I hope you enjoy.**

Boom! The explosion rocked the building the pair stood on. It missed their position by less than a block. It was followed by oval canisters, some much larger than others.

"Incoming!" one of the soldiers shouted. His armor was tan, with green trim and streaks. The colors were identical to his partner's, but the armor was very different. As one of the ovals crashed onto the roof they stood on, the soldier spun around, tightening his grip on the standard issue assault rifle in his hand. The pod's door burst open, revealing a red clad Sangheili.

Bullets pounded into the alien's shields before it touched the ground. Despite that, it charged, the plasma rifle in its hands bursting to life in its three fingered hand. The soldier met the charge, his pointed helmet tucked low as he made himself a smaller target. Plasma bullets burned past his face, the heat not making it through his insulated helmet. When it got close, the Sangheili swung its weapon arm. The soldier ducked under the blow. Drawing a knife, he exploded upwards from his crouch, driving the knife through the alien's exposed neck. Momentum forced the corpse to the ground, where it landed with a soft thud. The pointed helmet soldier bent down and retrieved his knife.

"Stop showing off." It was the other soldier who spoke. He had barely moved during the short engagement. His helmet was huge, having far more advanced zoom and scanning capabilities than that of his partner's. It fit the wearer's preference of the sniper rifle. That's not to say it wasn't intimidating. It made the wearer look anything but human. The sniper fired off a round, killing an Elite ten stories down.

"Just saving ammo," the snipers partner responded easily, flipping the knife before reattaching it to his armor. "Any word from command?" His partner seemed hesitant.

"Noble six went down not two minutes ago." The news was delivered as calmly as possible, the sniper still not turning to face his partner.

"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it!" the other yelled. His yelling was ignored. That really didn't go over well. "We're screwed! Do you hear me? Screwed!' The sniper was paying attention now. "Does that get though that thick helmet Locus?!"

"Our orders are to hold here," Locus responded calmly, moving to take another shot.

"They are ordering us to die! Don't you see that?!" Another orbital bombardment struck a building about a mile away.

"I do Felix, but we are Spartans. Our job is to follow orders, to the death if need be."

"Well than I quit!" Felix screeched. Taking the dead Elite's plasma rifle, Felix cracked the weapon open. Plasma began to seep from the weapon. Felix scooped up some of the still hot substance, the liquid threatening to burn his hand. With a growl of pain, the Spartan rubbed the plasma over his armor's UNSC insignia, singing his armor and removing the symbol.

"That was unnecessary damage to your armor," Locus stated calmly.

"Screw…you," Felix growled as he violently shook the plasma off his charred glove.

There was a moment of silence, excluding the persistent sound of a planet being torn apart. Phantoms began to reveal themselves from the clouds, silently moving toward the surface. Elites conjured together, obviously awaiting pickup.

"They're pulling out. We're going to get glassed any minute now!" Felix said panicked. Locus was silent. "We have to leave. If we don't, we will burn along with Reach! Nothing we do can prevent that!" More silence. "How about we make sure to kill a few of these alien bastards on our way out?"

"I'm listening."

Felix was immediately renewed. His cocky attitude returning with his confidence.

"It's no doubt full of Covenant it just picked up from the surface," Locus reminded him.

"So?" locus could practically hear his partner's smirk in just that one word.

Locus took a few seconds, absentmindedly reloading his sniper rifle. If they were caught by either side they would likely be killed, or at the very least court martialed. Staying meant death. He looked around them. Everything was falling, or on fire, or both. Reach was already dead.

"How do we get back to that Phantom?" Locus already knew the answer. He could practically see Felix griming under his helmet.

"We jump." Felix heard no retort. With one last check of his weapons, fully loaded, he sprinted toward the edge of the building. In a blink, he leaped, throwing himself into the air. Wind ripped around him, fighting a losing battle against gravity. His motion tracker told him Locus was right behind him. Their angle was perfect. They would hit the gunner's platform for the Phantom in 3…..2…1.

Felix smashed into the Grunt manning the turret, reducing it to nothing more than a puddle on the floor. Locus was right behind him, his shotgun aimed into the hallway that circled the edge of the Phantom. With a hand motion, Locus moved forward, his shotgun pointed to the left side of the hallway as he began to move that way. Felix ripped the plasma turret off its stand and moved back to back with his partner, covering their six with the turret. It was a flawless execution so far. This wasn't the first time they taken a Covenant Phantom.

Before they turned the corner to the main room, lights around the ship flashed. Both soldiers tensed, ready for a fight. No Covenant came. The gunners doors folded in, and the lights died. They were headed up into atmosphere.

Locus nodded to Felix, then rounded the corner. Felix heard a short sound of question form a Sangheili. Than he heard his partners weapon tear the alien to pieces. Not exactly the most subtle approach. Alarms once again flashed throughout the ship. This time it was for them.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Felix said over his shoulder." Locus didn't add that he wouldn't be the only one.

An Elite rounded the corner the far corner of the hallway that Felix was guarding. The Spartan squeezed the plasma cannon's trigger. Blazing hot blue plasma burst from the weapon, flying across the hall and striking the Elite's shields. The Sangheili's armor flashed as its shields absorbed the bullets. The alien ducked back around the corner from where it came.

"On the move," Felix yelled into the helmet comm. He was wired now, the communication with is partner natural in the heat of battle.

"Switch," Locus calmly said through the mic. Felix lifted the plasma cannon as far vertically as he could, swinging it around to cover the staircase that led down to the bottom level. In the split second there was space, Locus moved past his partner and under the turret. His shotgun was already clipped to his armor as he crouched and drew his sniper. Down the hall, the Elite reappeared just long enough to send out a few shots from its Covenant Carbine. It received a bullet through the face before it could do even that. Locus charged down the hallway. There was no need for communication, Felix knew he wouldn't have missed. As he approached the end of the hallway, Locus dropped into a slide. His momentum easily carried him to the end, exposing to him the middle chamber and the identical hallway on the opposite side of the ship. The Spartan fired a single sniper round into the hallway. His uncanny precision leveling the bullet at perfect grunt height as in ricochet down the hallway. Both Spartans heard multiple poops of Grunt methane tanks and the growl of an Elite. After the split second to perform the shot, Locus pushed off the wall, propelling himself back down the hallway.

"Swept," Locus sent into the com.

Felix responded, kicking the last Grunt corpse down the stairwell he was guarding before rushing to get his plasma cannon aimed down the hallway his partner had just fired into. Locus took over the stairs as Felix used the rest of the plasma cannon's ammo to tear apart the single Elite in the hallway his partner had cleared.

"Clear." Both Spartans checked their motion trackers. No more movement on this level.

Felix rejoined his partner, letting him lead with the shotgun. To the naked eye, the lower level looked clear. They both knew better than that. Locus activated his helmet's alternate vision, the sweeping gold easily revealing the single Elite that stood in active camouflage in the center of the room.

"One," Locus called as Felix began lobbing plasma grenades into the room. The Elite's shields flared, revealing its location. Felix opened fire with his DMR, hitting ever shot despite the cameo. By now, his partner had moved behind him, trading out his shotgun for his sniper once again. Locus pulled the trigger. The bullet took down the Sangheili's shields, but not killing the alien itself. It charged, forcing Felix to dive to the side. The Spartan came up on a knee, hurling a throwing knife into the back of the alien's neck.

"Bullseye." Locus ignored his partner and moved to the Phantom's controls. "No thank you. I'm hurt," Felix jabbed as he drug the Sangheili corpse to the side. He picked the still active energy sword off the floor, turning it to the side, examining it, before finally deactivating the weapon and clipping to the side of his armor.

Locus now stood in front of the Phantom's controls, furiously pressing buttons to try and move the dropship into orbit. Felix let him, Locus was the one with more extensive Covenant training.

"Can you get us out of here?" An explosion rocked the ship, just missing as Locus expertly maneuvered through the Covenant bombardment.

"Yes," Locus responded calmly. It did little to calm Felix's nerves.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Shut up!" Locus growled as the Phantom broke Reach's atmosphere, racing headfirst into the naval firefight. "You didn't think your plan through," Locus snarled from the controls. He didn't give any pause before starting again. "Phantom's don't have a Slipspace drive. We can't get out of here."

"That's why I keep you around," Felix shot back. Locus had no time to glare at his partner. Of course he had a plan to get out of here. He took a deep breath, calming his nerves. They needed to focus if they were going to get of here alive. Alternating their course, Locus ginned the Phantom's engines. They were headed right toward a Covenant cruiser. He had earned his chance to kill Covenant.

A stray plasma shot clipped their side, tearing off a piece of their vehicle. They were so close to the hanger. Another blast, human this time. Almost there. Their side clipped the wing of a leaving Banshee, knocking them to the side just as they crashed into the hanger.

Both Spartans were thrown against the wall, hearing only the horrifying sound of metal on metal as their Phantom skid across the deck. Finally they were smashed against the wall one last time. The screeching stopped. They had survived.

Both Spartans looked at each other before standing up. There was an unspoken understanding. They would make it out of this, both of them. Both made one last instinctual check of their weapons as they headed for the already disengaged ramp. They approached from the sides of the hallway. From the shadows. There were a few Grunts gathered at the bottom of the ramp, curiously looking around. The Spartans paused, looked at each other, and then stepped into the light. The Grunts screeched.

"Hey there," Felix said cheerily.

Both Spartans opened fire.

 **So I had the idea to do the life of Felix a while ago. I still might do it, but likely no time soon, especially with sports picking back up. As always tell me what you think in the reviews and pm me with any advice or questions you have.**

 **Don't expect anything other than more of these one shots for now, don't get your hopes up for North Star if you follow that.**

" **I am merely fulfilling the debt of ambition." – Julius Cesar- Shakespear**


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